Farmers in Barinas state, involved in a land conflict adjacent to the La Rubiera estate, were held for approximately six hours by an armed group of alleged paramilitary nature, who transported them in vehicles from the La Rubiera ranch to the estate of landowner Elpidio García. At this location, they were confined in a room before being handed over to the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) and taken to the headquarters of Command Zone 33 in the state’s capital.
This is the testimony of one of the abducted individuals.
According to the account, on Saturday, June 14, about 22 farmers were approached by a group of armed men at the farmers’ council camp. “They took us kneeling from the farmers’ council camp to a mountain,” described the witness, emphasizing that the captors “never claimed to belong to the national government or any other entity. They just showed up with weapons, frightening us.”
During this time, lasting roughly one to two hours, the farmers were forced to keep their heads down, unable to speak or look at their captors.
Once subdued, the farmers were moved in an agricultural trailer, known as a “zorra,” to a raised area. There, three trucks belonging to the La Rubiera estate, linked to landowner Elpidio García, awaited them. The 22 or 23 farmers, along with the armed group, were taken to the estate’s house, the residence of García.
In the house, an “old country construction,” the farmers were locked in a room for several hours, again with their heads covered and no communication. “We heard they were going to kill us, that they would do thousands of things to us, that they were waiting for orders. Terror invaded us at that moment,” recalled the affected individual. While they couldn’t see Elpidio García directly, the sight of his white truck, a double-cabin Super Duty, led them to suspect his involvement in the events.
Around six in the morning, a commission from the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) arrived at the ranch. It was at this point that “the armed groups handed us over to them,” stated the witness, who stressed that it was the armed group who initially captured them, not the GNB officials. The conversations between García and the National Guard were not heard by the farmers, as they remained confined.
Eventually, the farmers were taken out of the room and loaded into GNB vehicles: two Toyota “machitos.” By around 8 AM, they left the La Rubiera ranch heading to Barinas, in a convoy that included the two “machitos,” a GNB Hilux truck, and three additional vehicles from Elpidio García, totaling about six vehicles. In one of the landowner’s trucks, according to the testimony, they transported “a dismembered cow, supposedly the meat we were eating, about 100 kilograms. This was the alleged crime for which we were accused.”
This account corroborates context information that has circulated about the incident, indicating that 22 adult farmers, including leaders like Jesús Escalante and Reina Rodríguez, as well as teenager Alirio Vásquez (17 years), were deprived of their freedom after being kidnapped by an armed group serving a landowner. A 3-year-old girl, Kerlys Arias, was also held during the operation, although she faces no charges.
The judicial processing of the farmers has raised questions, particularly considering that the hearing, although conducted by an ordinary criminal tribunal, took place in a military detachment. Data journalism experts have noted the “astonishing similarity to Colombian paramilitary practices” in the kidnapping’s modus operandi.
This case falls within the struggle of farmers for the titling of unproductive lands in La Rubiera since 2021, backed by the Land Law. However, the situation also highlights the criminalization of agrarian leaders in Venezuela, with a record of 328 cases from 2020 to 2025, according to the National Farmers’ Front. The 22 farmers facing judicial proceedings now encounter charges that their defenders and human rights organizations consider unfounded and the result of an irregular arrest.